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Listen: Cakes Da Killa / Proper Villains, “Don Dada”
Atlantic/Sugar Trap
84.
Rico Nasty: “IPHONE”
The first single off of Rico Nasty’s raucous album Nightmare Vacation considers the peaks and valleys of romantic love as analogous to our unhealthy relationships with our phones. Peppered with references to early aughts technological obsessions (“He on my hip like a Tamagotchi/Leave a heart on my wall so I can know you like me”), the track offers nostalgia wrapped up in the saccharine chimes and futurist hyperpop of 100 gecs mastermind Dylan Brady’s production. In the track’s most tender moments, the maxed-out vocal effects are toned down to center Rico’s melodic pleas for affection, capturing the unique angst of chasing love behind a screen. –Jessica Kariisa
Listen: Rico Nasty, “IPHONE”
Kranky
83.
Ana Roxanne: “Suite pour l’invisible”
Ana Roxanne makes even silence sound vivid. A former student of Mills College’s acclaimed experimental-music program and current member of the Kranky Records roster, which includes the likes of Grouper and Tim Hecker, Roxanne draws inspiration from classical Hindustani singing and sacred choral music in her ambient soundscapes. “Suite pour l’invisible,” from Roxanne’s second album, Because of a Flower, maps self-knowledge onto a soothing drone and keys that twinkle like bokeh. “I hold your joy/I hold your pain,” she sings over heavenly synth tones. It’s the sound of the self turned into an atmosphere. –Emma Madden
Listen: Ana Roxanne, “Suite pour l’invisible”
Adult Swim
82.
Moor Mother / billy woods: “Furies”
Restless experimentalist Moor Mother couples her searing spoken-word delivery with New York rapper billy woods’ oblique rhymes to mesmerizing effect on this one-off collaborative single. The duo’s rapport is even-footed and intimate over flutes and knocking hand drums. Where Moor Mother speaks to battling inner and outer demons, her intoning voice echoing and relentless, woods is an ideal foil, adding drifting verses that lead to a needling concern: “What did I want?” The artful “Furies” leads listeners along its own orbit, with no easy answers to its cryptic questions. –Eric Torres
Listen: Moor Mother / billy woods, “Furies”
Transgressive
81.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland: “River Dreams”
On the deeply spiritual “River Dreams,” a new song included on Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s career-spanning 2020 compilation Transmissions, the pioneering experimental musician sings rich and soft invocations that encourage reflection, accompanied by circular piano melodies and synthetic orchestral chords. The meditative track speaks to finding fulfillment out of what little you have around you, learning to tune into the universe when it speaks, and grounding yourself in small moments of serenity—necessary reminders amid a year of unprecedented turmoil. –Jemima Skala
Listen: Beverly Glenn-Copeland, “River Dreams”
Top Dawg / RCA
80.
SZA: “Hit Different” [ft. Ty Dolla $ign]
SZA has an unparalleled ability to draw out the most intoxicating parts of an unhealthy relationship and turn them into an intoxicating song. “Hit Different” is misted with heady sluggishness, dragging drums, and Ty Dolla $ign’s honeyed voice, soft with the truth of a late-night realization. But SZA is buoyant as she sings about her inconsistent love. He’ll never prioritize her, but she presents her conflicting shame and pleasure openly. Getting carried away by languid harmonies and the open wound of SZA’s honesty, you start to wonder if there’s anything you’re hiding from yourself. –Ashley Bardhan
Listen: SZA, “Hit Different” [ft. Ty Dolla $ign]
RVNG INTL.
79.
Kate NV: “Sayonara”
Outwardly, Kate NV’s “Sayonara” is an ebullient hybrid of Japanese city pop and early-’80s avant disco; each element is daubed on in bold splotches of color, and its empty space suggests voluminous proportions. But there’s also something lonely and maybe even a little spooky about the song, which the Moscow musician says was written during a difficult time. In a high, breathy voice wreathed in delay, she sings short, repeated phrases mostly in Russian: “Yes, yes, yes/No, no, no/Sayonara, goodbye.” Affirmation, negation, disappearance. Entering the world of this song is like walking into an opulent room where a party has just concluded, as the host’s farewell fades down the hallway. –Philip Sherburne
Listen: Kate NV, “Sayonara”
Stinc Team / EMPIRE
78.
Drakeo the Ruler: “Backflip or Sumn”
Drakeo the Ruler has long been unfazeable, but on his latest LP, Thank You for Using GTL, recorded on a payphone from the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles County, ice water flows through his veins. Staring down trumped-up conspiracy charges in which his music was on trial as much as his actions, Drakeo oozes with swagger over a moody JoogSZN beat on “Backflip or Sumn.” He casually drops threats and flexes on the case he eventually did manage to beat, all the while stressing how unimpressed he is by it all. That he would cut a record full of the same kind of lyrics being used against him in a sham court proceeding is more than just chutzpah. It’s evidence that he remains unfazed—by the county sheriff, by the prosecutor, and by that giant bag of money at the strip club. –Matthew Ismael Ruiz
Listen: Drakeo the Ruler, “Backflip or Sumn”
ANTI-
77.
Fleet Foxes: “Sunblind”
On “Sunblind,” Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold proudly partakes in the age-old tradition of memorializing one’s heroes in song. He invokes late greats like Richard Swift, Judee Sill, and Elliott Smith, wrapping their works around him like a security blanket. “I’m gonna swim for a week in warm American Water with dear friends,” he proclaims, playfully nodding to Silver Jews’ David Berman, who passed away last year after decades of tortured brilliance. Even though “Sunblind” is an ode to the departed, it never succumbs to melancholy. Instead, it serves as a celebration of music as a source of solace and rejuvenation, and an exhilarating reminder of its profound potential. –Quinn Moreland
Listen: Fleet Foxes, “Sunblind”
ICY / Artistry / Warner
76.
Saweetie: “Tap In”
Saweetie builds contemporary hits out of ’00s hip-hop anthems, consistently inverting their masculine attitudes to make them her own. “Tap In” twists West Coast legend Too $hort’s “Blow the Whistle” into a mnemonic device for bagging a man with big money, and her tone is matter-of-fact, like she’s the smartest student of the game in your study group. After the California rapper caught flack for her overt materialism this year, she clarified that she demands riches of men more symbolically than literally. So even if you’ll never meet a dude earning eight figures, “Tap In” is an energizing lesson in assessing your worth and asserting your standards. –Mankaprr Conteh
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